La Folie

Wow....  that's all I can say.  I had an amazing meal with 5 friends at La Folie recently. 

So much food I can hardly remember it all.  I will instead give you the high-lights of the night. 

1. Foie Gras - I had heard Passot's foie preparations were unreal.  They are amazing... almost too big.  I had seared foie gras with roasted peaches and peach consomme.  It was amazing, but oh-so-rich. 

2. Warm Pig's Feet and Lobster Terrine on lentil Salad -  Talk about technique, this guy showed his master chef ability with a flawless terrine and interesting concept.  I was excited  to try it and not let down at all. 

3. Fondant - Not just any-ole-fondant but chocolate fondant with ice cream on the INSIDE of it!  I was baffled. . . and still am actually.  It was delicious.

I will be going back there as soon as my wallet is heavy enough, unfortunately at aroun $160 dollars per person it might be a while. 

UBUNTU Revisited. . .

Simple and sweet.... I don't think I accurately reflected my thoughts in my last post about ubuntu.  I thought it was absolutley amazing.  It was truly an eye opening culinary experience.  So this Friday I went back to Jeremy Fox's napa restaurant with some family and friends.  I was absolutely floored by the food we enjoyed.  

Just to mention a few:

Marcona Almonds with Lavender Sugar and Sea Salt

Sweet Peas with pea shell consomme, mint oil, macadamia nuts and white chocolate with pea sprouts

Deep Fried Egg (with soft yolk?!) with fingerling potato quennelles and black garlic coulis

Strawberry Sofrito Pizza with burranta cheese. 

And a new version of the noried goat cheese with radish and black sea salt

All of these dishes were incredible as were the others we enjoyed.  As of right now Ubuntu is my favorite restaurant in the bay area and the most unique and enjoyable dining experience I've ever had.  Please go eat there, it will improve your life.

Foie Gras

We've all heard about foie gras and we know it has quite a reputation.  Many think foie gras is the epicenter of perfection in the fine dining world. It can be found on many great menus across the world.  Customers at The French Laundry are often flooded with foie, Anthony Bourdain endorses foie gras, and at some point in the year Gordon Ramsay features foie at every restaurant he runs.  

So what is the great food?  Fattened duck or goose liver.  And might I say, it is delicious.  Its often served, seared, in a tourchon, a påte, or even as a creme caramel.  The great debate with foie gras concerns the ethics of fattening the duck/geese livers.  Ducks and geese don't have the same gag reflexes humans have.  They can be force-fed much more easily than it would be to stick a tube down our throats.  But does that make it right?  Apparently enough people don't think so.  In 2012 it will be illegal to sell foie gras in California.  It's already illegal in Chicago.  But this practice isn't new.  Egyptians were force feeding ducks as early as 2500 BCE.  There are currently a few farmers growing humane foie gras geese.  

So let me know what you think.  Should we be eating this rich buttery delicacy? Or should we find an alternative for the slim portion of the culinary world that is foie gras? . . . I'm sure you can see where I'm leaning already. 

Here is a clip from Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations segment on Foie Gras. 

Coming Soon!!

I've started a new job.  With school and work I'm pulling 15 hour days non-stop so obviously blogging has taken a hit.  But keep checking back because you're in for a lot this weekend:

Beef Tendon

"Cabeza" (Cow's head) Tacos

Foie Gras

Fresh Pasta

and more. . .

CIOPPINO GALORE

Yesterday was the Mid-Peninsula Young Life's first annual fund raising banquet.  140 of the bay area's finest came to support Young Life and enjoy a meal.  I was lucky enough to be hired to prepare the food for this banquet.  My staff and I prepared three courses for the event.  First course was a classic caesar salad with garlic grated croutons.  The main course and theme for the night was Cioppino.  The story goes that cioppino started when fishermen would come in from sea and "chip in" any surplus catch from their last trip.  The dish seems to have quite a history here in San Francisco and resonates with the locals. Our cioppino was chocked full of p.e.i. mussels, dungeness crab, and pacific pollock.  The key to my cioppino is starting with a foundation of roasted fennel with the caramelized onions.  The sweetness the vegetables bring to the dish works well to cut the acidity of the tomatoes and give the dish a richer feel.  Finally we ended the night with a tiramisu.  It was fabulous!  

The day before the event and the day of are

 the most demanding days for the catering staff (whereas the planning committee and director have to bust ass for a month or two).  I put in about twenty six and half hours in the two days, and my friend (and great chef) Luke put in just a few less than me.  We were also helped by two volunteers and my business partner/sister Jeannie.  The event went quite smoothly with an overall good response.  We definitely learned some things through the experience.  This was my first event with this quantity of people and food. But it was just as exciting as pitching my first game in little league.  I have all the pressure from all directions but when I finish the game, or knock out the dishes everything feels amazing.  Its an incredible experience to watch a group of people from 13 years old to 62 work together to make it happen.  The adrenaline of a night like this one is great.  There is no way I could have managed a 16 hour catering with out a good dose of adrenaline running through my body.  After about 10 hours you get the "runner's high" and it carries you until the end.  The key for me and Luke was to not stop moving.  As soon as we sat our butts on the comfy seats of my honda to leave an immense release of pressure and energy occurred.  We looked at each other and recognized a job well done.  

I came home to see a large portion of the Young Life committee at my house with friends discussing the evening.  For the inaugural banquet it was a success.  Congratulations Young Life and thanks!

I am still tired and wiped out from an amazing two days.  

Cioppino

Ingredients

1 Fennel bulb

1 Med. Onion (Yellow)

Olive Oil

1 Tablespoon Fresh Thyme

1/2 Tablespoon crushed red pepper

1 Lg. Can (usually 28 oz) Crushed tomatoes

2 C. red wine (cab or syrah)

8oz. Clam Juice

1/2 # Pollock or Cod

1/2 # Crab Meat

1 # Mussels

Procedure

1. Medium dice fennel and onions

2. Add olive oil to large pot and heat to medium

3. Add onions and fennel and slowly caramelize (for richer flavor)with thyme, red pepper, salt and pepper.

4. Add clam juice and wine and bring to a simmer - let simmer for 4-5 minutes to concentrate flavors

5. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer - simmer covered for 25 to 45 minutes (depending on how rich you want it).

6. Add pollock, crab, and mussels and simmer until cooked.

*Simmering the seafood takes longer to cook but really maintains a more tender finished product and helps you avoid overcooked mussels. 

Also consider finishing the dish with a drizzle of olive oil or a caramelized baby carrot. 

[The picture is Luke scrubbing one of the two huge pots after cioppino night]

UBUNTU

After lunch at Bouchon and wine from all over Napa we dined at Ubuntu vegetarian restaurant for dinner.  Ubuntu is a restaurant on the bottom floor and a yoga studio on the top floor.

Visually, Ubuntu is an earthy place, slightly modern, with a touch of the far east. The outside is made of old stones and much of the inside is furnished with salvaged wood. The staff is highly attentive as soon as you enter the restaurant.  The host's station is at the back of the restaurant next to the open portion of the kitchen.  However, they come to greet you with menus and a wine list.  Walking in didn't seem to be a problem but I have a feeling reservations will likely be needed very soon.  

My girlfriend and I decided to order the tasting menu and get a sampling of what ubuntu was all about.  Chef Jeremy Fox offered a six course menu on Thursday night.  

Amuse . . . "Chilled green garlic vichyssoise with chive fingerling potato and aged black garlic" - This was a beautiful dish and extremely flavorful.  It was finish table-side as the server poured the green vichyssoise over the potato and black garlic.  The garlic was topped with a small edible flower.  The dish was refreshing.  The flavors were a blend of sweet, salty, and umami.  It was actually so overwhelmingly flavorful that I could not finish.

First . . . "Radishes with local chevre and nori, banylus vinaigrette, smoked salt, hong vit"  - This course was interesting.  I was slightly apprehensive since I'm not a huge fan of radishes. But Chef Jeremy pulled it off.  I enjoyed the dish but felt the smoked salt needed to slightly smaller in mass.  The pieces were so big that the flavor overwhelmed each bite with the salt in it.  Sarah said this was the best dish of the evening.  

Second . . . "Carrots and tangelo - 'crumble' of dried carrot, almond, and mace" -  I found this to be the most enjoyable dish.  It was very flavorful but balanced and smooth.  The flavor was unique but also pulled from familiar parts of my palette.  This dish was exquisitely constructed from conceptualization to the diner.  I would encourage him to place this on the menu permanently. 

Third . . ."Cauliflower in a cast-iron pot with our vadouvan roasted-pea-shoots-'couscous', coriander sprouts" - The cauliflower to me is an underrated vegetable.  I feel like it can be a vessel for so much flavor.  However, this is the one dish that I was slightly let down with.  Don't get me wrong it was good, but it was quite one-dimensional.  I tasted and tasted again for more flavors but it was simple buttery, creamy cauliflower.  

Fourth  . . ."Smoked anson mills grits with a slow farm egg, blue bottle 'red eye' gravy, bordeaux spinach" - What?! Grits for main course.  Turns out, its not so bad.  The flavors and textural differences of this dish were definitely unique.  The smooth rich body of the slow farm egg paired with the grits natural texture was a smart move.  But the best part of the dish was the bordeaux spinach and red eye gravy's combination of sweet and just a touch of salty.  It was a great take on grits but I still can't get over grits as a main course.  I'm guessing I'm still waiting for the shrimp to show up.

Fifth . . ."Scharffen Berger chocolate Souffle with rosemary ice cream and candied hazelnuts"  - Simply amazing.  Rosemary ice cream is genius and I wish it were my idea.  Its refreshing but has so much more depth than the classic vanilla.  The souffle was nicely done with great flavor but was slightly heavy for a souffle.  The hazelnuts went great with both the ice cream and the souffle.  If it weren't dessert it may have won the best course award. 

From a man more inclined to eat at Chef Cosentino's Incanto than to sign up for a vegetarian tasting menu Ubuntu impressed me.  The service was excellent from start to finish and the sommelier was definitely loving her job.  Watching the chefs work under pressure really showed their passion for good food and their high standards.  Chef Jeremy Fox has a lot of great things coming his way.  One of which should be your name on his reservation list. 

Hours: Seven days a week.  Lunch: 11:30-2:30, Dinner 5:30-9:00

Price: $5-$49

Location: 1140 Main Street, Napa, CA

Bar: Yes

Sommelier: Yes

Large Groups: Yes

Payment: Cash, Cards

Phone: 707.251.5656

BOUCHON

Bouchon Bistro - Yountville, California - March 2008

On a recent trip to Napa Valley I decided to once again dine at Thomas Keller's Bouchon Bistro.  It was a great experience.  The service was spectacular. The servers and back-waiters showed great pride in Bouchon without seeming pretentious.  The restaurant consistently lives up to it's reputation. 

Our lunch reservation was early (11:30am) so I ordered and orange juice and soda to start.  As soon as we were comfortably adjusted in our chairs a back-waiter delivered a small portion of an epi-baguette with butter.  One benefit to eating this early was that the baguette wasn't even done cooling yet.  It was fresh and still slightly warm in the center.  It was just warm enough to soften the butter but not melt it completely. 

Next we ordered lunch.  I decided to have the croque madame, a close friend of the croque monsieur.  Both sanwiches are butter grilled brioche with ham and cheese but the madame has the addition of a fried egg on top and at Bouchon also mornay.  To say this sandwich is good is a complete understatement.  I haven't figured out yet why this isn't on more menus!  Its a great combination of salty and sweet flavors.  The sandwich has a rich mouth feel and the crunch of the perfectly toasted brioche is a great balance to the smooth mornay.  

I ordered the croque madame because I knew it came with Bouchon's legendary french fries.  I've had this piece of potato perfection once before and I couldn't wait to enjoy them again. . . However, I was out of luck.  Since Bouchon is undergoing kitchen renovations there were no fries to be had.  In my sadness I ordered a dish of haricot verts.  I had recently read in Michael Ruhlman's book The Reach of a Chef that Thomas Keller (Chef/Owner of The French Laundry, Bouchon, Per Se & more) was a fiend for perfectly cooked green beans.  Keller has obviously trained his staff well, the beans were perfect.  They were soft with a slight crunch left in them but not so crisp to seem uncooked.  They were served with sauteed minced onions in a small iron crock.  

Overall the lunch was fantastic.  I'm yet to be let down by Bouchon.  I highly recommend spending your lunch hour there the next time you visit the Napa Valley. 

*After lunch and comfortably full, Sarah and I waltzed next door to Bouchon Bakery.  I picked up an extremely large pain de miche for my sister.  Miche is a large french-country style bread.  It's simple, with a dark caramelized crust enveloping a flavorful chewy center.  Its that large beautiful round bread you've been eyeing at your local bakery each time you visit.  I say go for it.  Fork over the $8.00 and enjoy a great miche!

Hours: 11:30 am - Midnight

Price: 

Location: 6534 Washington St. Yountville, CA

Bar: Yes

Sommelier: Unknown

Large Groups: No

Payment: Cash, Cards

Phone: 707.944.8037